Best place to buy fine wines in LR.
 

Where do people go to find the finer wines in the Lakes region. I need to bring some good wine to T-Day dinner and as a Christmas present combo to the In laws. Not talking the $10 bottle. more like the $30 and up variety. Any suggestions on Chardonnays? That is on my list of things to bring for dinner on Thanksgiving, But would like to bring a nicer bottle to give as a present as well.

(I am not a wine drinker as you might tell. ;))

As usual, when we go, we wind up getting a list of booze to pick up, as the Maine folk get a big tax.....It is just getting paid back, that is the problem sometimes....:rolleye2:

The Wining Butcher.... Johnson's Market (New Durham)... and the State stores come to mind...

Here's a link to a great little blog about good wines for under $20:

http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/


I've had some great wines that don't cost over $15 and some crap that was over $40/bottle. Good wine doesn't have to cost a fortune.

For Thanksgiving I recommend an American label Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, or Riesling.

If you are looking for something specific, you can search the state liquor stores to check inventory: http://www.nh.gov/liquor/index.shtml

Whining Butcher - Meredith - behind the Irving just past Hannafords

NH State liquor stores carry a nice selection particularly the stores on interstate 93. Sam's Club (yes Sam's Club!) carries some great wine at a good price. I often stock up at the Sam's in Manchester when I am there. I am pretty sure the Sam's in Concord also sells wine.

I was not impressed with the selection or how the bottles of wine are stored and handled at the Wineing Butcher in Gilford. Their meats are great though! :liplick:

Dan

Centre Harbor Cellars in Center Harbor on Rt. 25 x from Heaths hardware. Gourmet snacks and excellent cheeses.

Buy Local
 

Try some local flavor www.stonegatevineyard.com. It's not $30 a bottle but makes a nice gift. I'm told the wine is pretty darn good.:cheers:

Update for Pineneedles
 

Just a quick update for you Pineedles - Went to the Center Harbor Cellars just the other day, and all they could offer on the alcoholic front was a bottle of mouthwash!
It's been a dentist since the summer I'm afraid.

ditto Jupiter
 

Center Harbor Cellars went out of business quite a while ago.

I think our state stores stock a great variety of wines, even the smaller ones (the one by Heath's comes to mind, it has a great selection).

doh!
 

I never answered your question... where are you? Wofeboro Wine Cellars is terrific, and they can really speak to their wines so you will know what you are bringing. Both Wine'ing Butchers also have a nice selection.

I'm sure Dr. Taoka would love to share a bottle of wine with you before he gives you fluoride:D

I'm in Moultonborough, but work in Wolfeboro. So I'll check out the Wolfeboro Wine Cellar....wherever it is....:D I'll do the google thing on it. I already checked out the WB...So I still may get it there. Maybe I could get a discount for all my advertising for them....:rolleye2::D

Nitrous Oxide good substitute
 

Thanks. Was there a thread about it that I missed? I can't remember whether I went there this summer or not, maybe it was last year. Too bad, although I am not a wine drinker I did like their snacks.

Robb @ Wolfeboro Wine Cellar on North Main Street in Wolfeboro is great at making quality suggestions in any price range. He has a great selection and some great cheeses as well.

Corner of Mill Street and North Main in the Colonial Arms building (Robb @ Wolfeboro Wine Cellar)

Lakesrider....I do have a couple of suggestions for a really nice Chardonnay. Both can be had at the state stores, I believe. One is Cambria reserve...$30 $40....Also Far Niente around $80. Both come from the Santa Maria valley which is famous for quality a......they both are very smooth.....no citrus but a very nice smokey, butterscotch finish. I'd go for the Cambria.

Thanks guys/gals. I printed this out to take with me to work on Weds...Cambria....check!:D

Second Robb @ Wolfeboro Wine Cellars
 

He has some very nice wines, great cheese, gifts for your favorite wine lover and bonus, his store is connected to (physically, not sure if he owns it also) Winnipesaukee chocolates which are also great-not only the bars but also a artistic array of truffle flavors!

If I'm not mistaken there is also another "goumet" shop, with a wine selection beneath Abondate's.

Does anyone know if the winery is still open? Their website was vague (mid-November) on when they close.

To answer the question, believe it or not, Shaw's in Gilford has a pretty decent selection of "good" wine.

Stonegate
 

I'm on their email list and they indicated they'll be open for the next 2 weekends, sat and sunday 1-5pm. Give them a call, nice people.

Educate yourself a little bit about wine before you buy. High price does not necessarily equal a good wine! Too bad we don't have more wineries around here you could educate yourself with some nice wine tasting. ;)

Wine mistakes that I have made
 

I've given people "good" wine only to discover that the wine was dreadful. I tried relying on the wine ratings of publications such as Wine Enthusiast only to discover that some wines rated as "good" were to be polite, odd. Now if I don't have personal knowledge that a wine is good, I bring two or three $10-15 bottles rather than one $30 experiment. My delivery message is, here is a bottle of red, a bottle of wine and champagne for making whatever floats your boat. You get credit for spending the $30 and have at least a 1 in 3 chance of succeeding. If only Wall Street had a similar approach to risk management.

The same logic works with beer.

I've found only a very general correlation between price and my perception of the quality of a wine. We really enjoy trying to find those undiscovered wines that to us are great but priced reasonably. I've seen a lot of pricey wines I don't like and quite a few "cheap" wines I love.

I'm very partial to Frei Brothers Russian River Valley Chardonnay. Price is variable, here it's $16 or $17 a bottle, and worth every last penny. It's a very smooth and versatile Chardonnay, and one of the best I've ever had. Certainly better than many costing twice as much.

My favorite Every day sort of wine is a Blackstone Merlot, which I think is about the most versatile red going, and even with turkey or chicken. Very smooth, not a harsh wine at all. Price is bonkers, going from $7.99 on sale to $11.99, but still a great wine.

For the prices and above, these are my favs. We have wine with just about every dinner, so price does count a bit.

As a non-winedrinker I can't offer any expert advice, but my DW will accept only Beringer White Zinfandel. When we were over visting her family in Italy, the "spigot" (BOTLES ARE REFILLED MULIPLE TIMES) wine that her family served at each meal was wonderful. Its all about what tastes good!:D I loved it.

I second that, Frei Brothers Chardonnay is indeed a "good" wine at a reasonable price and it's available at Shaw's!!

In a blind tasting.......Barefoot Chardonney will stand up to more pricey wines.......8 to 9 bucks.......try it,you'll like it.

Barefoot's not bad Sam, maybe a good pick versus Gallo Sonoma or the CK Mondavi. I used to like the sweeter Chards, now I prefer more smooth and deep. Barefoot does vary quite a bit, and with no vintage, could be hit or miss. But certainly not bad for the price.

And to think when I started to buy wine by the case, I purchased Merseault for around $4 to $5 a bottle. Now that's my favorite.

But a funny thing happened when the US got used to high tariffs.:eek:

I second that - Barefoot wines are great! Consider Ecco Domani wines too - you can get very good wine for not a whole lotta money!

Ok I picked up some Barefoot yesterday. I also got some Absolute, Bacardi, Absolute 100, Baily's, Cutty, and Jack Daniels. So the relatives should be good an liqueur'd up this Thanksgiving....:D Thanks for all the advise.

A Must Visit For Fine Wine Lovers...
 

The wine cellar, in an old Bank Vault, at Fratello's Italian Grille on Union Ave. in Laconia is a treasure!... OH, and if you should get hungry, the food and service is superb as well! :liplick: :)

Barefoot Wines
 

I've also had good luck with Barefoot wines, although the name is somewhat disconcerting. It's problably because I knew someone who had a job stomping grapes that got fired sitting down on the job.

My experience has been that the some regions are better for given wines, and types of wine. That being said, the Russian River region of Sonoma does produce a good Chardonnay. I would recommend Ferrari Carano (sp?) as a very nice Chardonnay. A nice specialty store in Concord is Butters. They have a rotating selection of nice, and not so easy to find wines. And many are priced very reasonably. They also have a broad selection of imported cheeses that are just too tempting. Enjoy